It's good news for Vodafone as the company reverses downwards trajectory

After years of decline, Vodafone has finally started to log some positive results, and it has “emerging markets” to thank for.

According to a report by The Telegraph, The FTSE 100 company reported a drop in revenue of 0.9 per cent to £10.1 billion for the first quarter to June 30.

However, “strong organic sales were up 3.3pc, the second quarter in a row of growth for Vodafone following ten consecutive quarters of decline”, it says.

Organic revenue rose in Africa, Middle East and the Asia Pacific regions 6.1 per cent, while in Europe it declined 1.5 per cent. Vodafone said performance was continuing to recover and the company was managing to retain more of its customers.

Vodafone now has 24.1 million 4G customers in 18 markets, the company said in a statement.

In terms of the UK, service revenue was up 0.2 per cent, and mobile service revenue was up 0.7 per cent. On the other hand, fixed service revenue fell 1.3 per cent. The company now has 12.3m fixed broadband customers in the UK.

Vittorio Colao, the telecom company's chief executive, said it has been “a good start to the year”.

He added: “Our emerging markets have maintained their strong momentum and more of our European businesses are returning to growth, as customer demand for 4G and data takes off."

Shares in Vodafone were up 2.4pc this morning following the trading update.

Vodafone said that 4G services covered more than two-thirds of its European countries, which had resulted in greater customer loyalty and stabilising average revenue per user.

“However, our markets are, as always, highly competitive and we therefore have to remain very focused on efficiency, cost control and excellent value and service to customers, while continuing to deliver a good return for shareholders,” added Mr Colao.